WASHINGTON, DC (BBN PR) –The Windalco alumina assets in Jamaica owned by United Company Rusal of sanctioned Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska “are safe,” Jamaica Prime Minister Andrew Holness told Capitol Intelligence/BBN PR.
[Jamaica Prime Minister Andrew Holness speaks to Capitol Intelligence/BBN PR using CI Glass on the status of Rusal ownership of Windalco bauxite/alumina assets in Jamaica during a news conference at the National Press Club of Washington DC on April 1, 2022]
Speaking to Capitol Intelligence/BBN PR following a meeting with Vice President Kamala Harris, Prime Minister Holness said he sees no reason the seek the divestment of Windalco by Rusal notwithstanding its controlling shareholder Oleg Deripaska is under US and EU sanctions related to the war in Ukraine.
Rusal’s “Jamaican assets are safe,” Holness said, making his first public comment on Rusal’s considerable assets on the Caribbean Island.
At the same time Rusal has contacted bankers in New York and London to spin-off the company’s foreign based assets like Windalco to protect them from new US and EU sanctions and more than likely renationalization of Rusal by Russian President Vladmir Putin, a Rusal source said.
However, Jamaica PM Holness stance of non-intervention on Rusal’s Jamaican assets puts him at direct loggerheads with US House Financial Services Committee chairwoman, Rep. Maxine Water (D-CA), who is seeking new US Treasury department sanctions against Rusal.
One of the most powerful members of the US Congress, Chairwoman Waters told Capitol Intelligence she was particularly opposed to Rusal’s control of alumina assets in Jamaica.
Jamaica owned a piece of Windalco up to 2014 when it offloaded its final 7.0 percent stake to UC Rusal for US$11 million, which was used to partially offset a US$21 million debt to Rusal.
[U.S. House Committee on Financial Services Chair Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) speaks to Capitol Intelligence/CI Ukraine using CI Glass on re-imposing US sanctions on Oleg Deripaska’s Rusal aluminum group and its Jamaican Windalco at the American Bankers Association Washington Summit in Washington, DC on March 8, 2022]
Jamaica did about US$68 million worth of trade with Russia in 2020 and US$45 million over the period January to October 2021, most of which relates to the export of bauxite and alumina.
The Jamaican prime minister, who said his goals is to make Jamaica the Singapore of the Western Hemisphere, also said he was no reason to curb Chinese mainland investment to the island such as $700m highway project financed by China Development Bank and built by Beijing-based China Harbor Engineering Company (CHEC).
He noted that total debt to Jamaica to China was a mere 5% of its total foreign debt and that Chinese investment and subsequent debt obligations do not pose any problem for attracting US private sector investment. China is also a major player in Jamaica’s alumina sector, with mainland Chinese Jiuquan Iron and Steel Company (JISCo) acquiring the Alpart alumina refinery from Rusal for $300m.
Holness said he had very constructive meetings with Vice President Kamala, whose father was born in Jamaica.
However, leading members of the Jamaican-American diaspora said they were not very impressed with the actual delivarables PM Holness was able to win from the United States — $20m of economic aid over 5 years and $10m for violence and human trafficking reduction.
“The sums given to Jamaica are tiny. It is what Washington DC, the State Partner of Jamaica, could do on its own,” a Jamaican-American who joined PM Holness at the National Press Club said.
The miserly aid contribution to Jamaica may have more to do with issues surrounding the prime minister’s and his wife’s personal wealth — such as the ownership of a J$20m Beverly Hills, mansion in Jamaica– as opposed to Jamaica’s geo-political importance to the United States. Holness is quoted in local Jamaican press saying he has invested a total of J$53m into his Jamaican properties.
He said during his meeting with VP Harris they discussed US investment in Jamaica; the upcoming referendum to end Jamaica’s membership to to the Commonwealth realm; and efforts in seeking reparations from the UK for the legacy of slavery on the island.
While PM Holness says he no longer wants Queen Elizabeth as Jamaica’s head of state, he is backing Jamaica’s Foreign Secretary Kamina Johnson-Smith’s candidacy as the Commonwealth’s next Secretary General.
by PK Semler in Washington, DC with editing by Nigel Wright in Los Angeles.
For more information, please email: pks@capitolintelgroup.com Copyright of Capitol Intelligence Group, Inc – Turning Swords into Equity®